Nathan looked at Damian, noting how every Mafia studentâs eyes kept flickering toward their leader, drawing strength from his presence.
âItâs because of him. Theyâre pushing beyond their limits because they donât want to disappoint him. Because stopping while heâs still running feels like betrayal.
Heâs turned them into fanatics! Thatâs... impressive and deeply concerning.â
25Ă gravity.
Leonard Ashford faltered, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his SS rank talent hitting its current ceiling.
Beside him, Iris Langsten, was barely maintaining pace, her blue hair dark with sweat.
But neither would stop. Not while every single Mafia student was still running like this was routine training.
Leonardâs mind was screaming questions.
âWhat the fuck did Damian do to these people?! How are they still going?! They should be collapsing from the pressure, but they just keep running like machines!â
Irisâs thoughts were similar, her Imperial pride warring with the reality unfolding around her.
âCommoners shouldnât be able to do this. The talent gap should create an insurmountable difference. But theyâre outperforming us through sheer willpower and conditioning. How?â
28Ă gravity.
Finally, Mafia students began dropping.
Marcus collapsed with a grunt, his hangover from drinking habit catching up despite months of training.
Selena fell gracefully despite exhaustion, her balance keeping her controlled even in failure.
Rio stumbled and went down hard, his shield-specialist build not designed for endurance running.
But the core members â Zavier, Edrin, Ronan, Lysa, and Ariana â kept pace with Damian, their expressions showing strain but no surrender.
30Ă gravity.
Leonard collapsed, his body finally giving out despite desperate willpower.
Iris fell seconds later, her Imperial training insufficient against this specific challenge.
They lay there gasping, watching in disbelief as the commoners theyâd looked down on for months continued running.
Nathan was no longer tracking individual students. He was watching a phenomenon.
âEdrin, Ronan, and Lysa are about to break. Their bodies canât sustain this much longer regardless of determination.â
32Ă gravity.
Thud Thud Thud
All three fell simultaneously, finally hitting absolute limits.
But Ariana and Zavier kept running beside Damian, their faces showing determination that bordered on obsession.
"..."
The entire gymnasium had gone silent, everyone watching this impossible display.
As Zavierâs legs began trembling, clearly about to collapse, Damian turned his head and looked at him directly.
No words. Just a look.
But that look conveyed everything:
I expect more from you. You can do more. Donât disappoint me.
Grit!
Zavierâs teeth gritted so hard they should have cracked, his entire body screaming for rest, but he forced his legs to keep moving.
âI canât stop! I wonât stop! Not while Boss believes in me.â
34Ă gravity.
Ariana stopped herself, her assessment of her limits precise, her expression calm despite the exhaustion.
She walked to the side with controlled movements, ignoring the shocked stares.
âMad Woman!â
Everyone looked at her like she was insane for making it this far and still walking normally.
35Ă gravity.
Thud
Zavier finally collapsed, his body shutting down despite his mindâs protests.
Now only Damian remained, running alone under pressure that would crush normal humans flat.
He looked at Nathan and spoke clearly despite the difficulty.
"Increase the gravity to fifty. I donât feel challenged at all."
Nathanâs eyes twitched.
âHere we go again. Showoff asshole!â
"You sure about that, kid?"
"Completely."
Nathan increased the multiplier.
50Ă gravity.
Damianâs posture bent slightly under the increased pressure, his enhanced body adjusting to the new baseline.
Then he straightened, smiled, and ran faster.
The ground beneath his feet began showing stress fractures, reinforced flooring not designed for this much concentrated force.
Nathanâs expression became serious, his professional curiosity overriding annoyance.
âHis body is enhanced beyond any C rank standard Iâve seen. What did he do to make it this strong? What happened in that portal?â
60Ă gravity.
Crack!
The floor shattered beneath Damianâs steps, chunks of reinforced concrete cracking and fragmenting.
Damian paused mid-stride, looking down at the destruction he was causing.
Then, under everyoneâs shocked eyes, he removed his shoes, unbuttoned his Academy coat, pulled off his shirt, and tossed all of it into his spatial ring.
His bare torso showed the results of the Devourer Body Art clearly â muscles that looked carved from stone, light scars from recent combat, a physique that belonged to a veteran warrior rather than a teenage student.
"AH~"
"So handsome~"
"My Villain~"
"Girl! Heâs a hero~"
"Shut up! We are nobles you know, so he is a perfect villain for us~"
Many female Noble students blushed as they looked at him with hot eyes.
Under everyoneâs gazes, Damian jumped slightly, testing his balance with a crazy smile crossing his face.
"Professor. Increase it to eighty."
"Kid, donât be too arrogant. Youâll actually die if something goes wrong."
Damianâs expression remained calm, his voice becoming matter-of-fact.
"Just do it."
Nathan looked at him for several long seconds, reading the absolute certainty in those crimson eyes.
Then... he increased the multiplier with a complex expression mixing concern and fascination.
80Ă gravity.
Damian took a runnerâs starting position, his body coiled like a spring under pressure that should have flattened him.
Then he exploded forward.
BOOM.
The ground beneath his feet didnât just crack â it detonated, chunks of reinforced flooring blasting outward from the sheer force of his acceleration.
His speed under eighty times gravity exceeded what normal humans could manage under standard conditions.
A blur moving through destruction, Damianâs laughter echoing through the chamber.
"HAHAHA! MORE! MORE! MORE! THIS IS FUN!"
"!!!"
Complete silence from the watching students, their minds unable to process what they were witnessing.
Leonardâs face showed pure horror.
âWhat is this madness?! How strong is his body?! Thatâs not C rank physical capability! Thatâs not even B rank! What the hell happened to him in that portal?!â
Nathan kept increasing the multiplier, his scientific curiosity fully engaged now.
90Ă gravity.
More destruction and more laughter followed. Damian kept on running faster and pushing even harder, his enhanced body reveling in the challenge.
100Ă gravity.
The gravitational field became unstable under the extreme settings, reality itself seeming to warp around the multiplier.
Damian lost his balance as spatial distortions created unexpected resistance.
His trajectory shifted, momentum carrying him off-course.
BOOOOOM!
He went through the gravitational roomâs reinforced wall like it was paper, the impact creating a human-shaped hole, debris exploding outward.
Nathan and everyone else rushed to the breach, fearing the worst.
"..."
But...
Damian stood outside in the hallway, running his hand through his hair to remove dust and concrete fragments, coughing slightly.
Cough Cough
His body showed no serious damage. Just some scrapes and minor bruising. But nothing that his enhanced vitality and self-healing couldnât handle.
He looked at Nathan with a genuinely apologetic expression.
"Iâm sorry, Professor... I slipped."
"..."
Nathan stared at him with a soulless look, his mind trying to reconcile "slipped" with "destroyed a reinforced gravity chamber wall designed to withstand artillery strikes."
Then he looked at his destroyed training facility, the crater where Damian had been running, the massive hole in the wall.
âMotherfucker!â
His hand clutched at his chest dramatically.
"My gravity room... my beautiful gravity room..."
The devastation to his training equipment seemed to hurt worse than any physical injury.
"..."
All the other students â Mafia members and Nobles alike â just stood speechless, not knowing what to say.
The Mafia students were surprised despite knowing Damianâs strength.
Theyâd seen him fight, seen him lead, but this casual display of physical dominance exceeded their understanding.
The Noble students felt their entire worldview being challenged.
âC rank awakeners arenât supposed to have bodies this strong! This is impossible! His physical attributes must exceed B rank, maybe even A rank! How?!â
Damian looked at the shocked faces, at Nathanâs soul-death expression and at the destruction heâd caused.
Then he smiled sheepishly and started backing away.
"Iâll... just go now. Sorry again about the wall, Professor."
He turned and walked quickly toward the changing rooms, his bare torso still showing as he made his escape.
"..."
Ariana, Edrin, Ronan, Lysa, and Zavier watched him leave, shaking their heads with fond exasperation.
Theyâd gotten used to Damianâs tendency to break things â rules, expectations and now training equipment â through sheer excessive capability.
But seeing it demonstrated this clearly still made them smile despite the chaos.
âThatâs our leader! He never does anything halfway. Always pushing beyond what anyone thinks possible.
And somehow making it look effortless.â
"..."
The rest of the class stood in stunned silence, processing what theyâd witnessed, wondering what other impossible things Damian Valcor would casually accomplish before the year even ended.